Web Hosting Blues

Agghh… Yet again my external (non-WordPress.com) host has failed me

After becoming a refugee from my previous host (they had sold the business, but forgot to tell anyone, and the new owners were a disaster), I decided to try a WordPress.org recommendation. Not being ENTIRELY stupid, I did some research on them and picked one with a long track record and good reviews. They offered up-to-date WordPress installs, good bandwidth etc etc…..
Looks like everyone else was looking too… Not long after joining, the uptime became downtime +++.
My email was answered quite professionally, citing moving to new servers, inadequate staff (presumably growing fast!) and a promise that all would be well “soon”. Also offered pro-rated refund which was appreciated. Decided to stick it out – but no go. Up time around 75% according to my independent monitor.

So – Now have ANOTHER host – multisite account with Site5 - similar deal. Great reviews (and I know this one is growing fast!). They seem to cope better with the growth though.

I REALLY hate moving servers…..

Will publish an entry on picking a web host shortly – but with my track record…

p.s. If you want to know who I WAS with contact me via The Silent Deep. I know they ARE trying, so won’t publish their name here.

Podcaster News Network (PCN) up and running

Well, it’s been a while coming but now its up and running! Podcaster News Network is ‘live’ at www.PodcastNews.com.
My take on this is it’s essentially a podcast aggregator that combines specific (subscribed/selectable) news shows – each of 5 minutes, into one downloadable show that you can take with you. They offer tech-news, weather, entertainment, politics, health, education, sport etc etc. It differs from a classical aggregator in that it has specific,designed ‘casts of 5 minutes each with the aim to provide succinct and relevant comments to fit the time frame.

The Podcaster News Network has been developed by the team at RawVoice to offer you short 3 – 5 minute podcasts, produced by our own PCN podcasters. You customize your daily news by choosing podcasts from various categories. By creating a PCN User account (sign up takes about a minute) you will then have the ability to select as many podcasts as you like and create a custom newscast. This custom news cast can then be listened to straight from the site, downloaded to your home computer /mp3 player or subscribed via a single RSS feed.

This is a bit of a paradigm shift that deserves watching, and certainly has potential. So far the process has been painless with subscribing and collating a series of podcasts for my interest, but there is still a way to go to fully ‘flesh out’ the categories that are available. For example – as I write this the ‘weather’ , ‘travel’ and ‘world news’ categories are empty although there are 20 available podcasts overall..
Site design looks excellent and professional.
This has the potential to be something both important AND big. It has the possibility to be the first formal Podcast based news forum, allowing a single outlet for news and information from the grass roots podcasting community.
It certainly bears watching.

The Internet Cognoscenti – what are you up to?

Well, as I’ve said before I have recently returned to the fold and started re-investigating the ‘net.

After several weeks of looking, trying, learning, being confused and experiencing sudden enlightenment (!), I have come to these conclusions about the way the well-informed, net savvy person is using their Internet!

Firstly, you have your own domain name. Preferably a “vanity” one that is immediately identifiable! Smith.com has more cache than albertsmith.com and far more than albertFsmith.net! At the very least, this allows you to have a persistent email address despite changing ISPs over time. Make sure you have bought a 5 or 9 year lease on the name. Quite possibly you have also bought domains for your family, relatives, and acquaintances.

Shame Sony – Shame!

I came across this as a link at Geek news central, as well as noticing it on Digg amongst other places. There is rarely something that makes me stand back in awe and amazement – and also makes me mad as hell – but this is one of those times.
The people at Sysinternals – who have developed the Root Kit Revealer to detect the worst possible forms of computer invasion – have now found a Root Kit installed by Sony as part of their DRM. – A poorly coded root kit too! AND, from all reports, it is NOT covered in the EULA.

Mark’s Sysinternals Blog: Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far
The entire experience was frustrating and irritating. Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall. Worse, most users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files.

The awe and amazement is a reflection of the detailed and comprehensive analysis they took to discover this critter and the fact that they posted each step along the way. The depth of analysis was common 20 years ago with a small DOS system – but within a windows machine nowadays – and using many routines that they wrote themselves I think that they deserve an award.
PLEASE go to their site and read this – then take your Sony merchandise back and ask for a refund.

HOW DARE THEY INVADE OUR MACHINES! HOW DARE THEY !

Anyone thinking class-action?

(also posted on The Silent Deep – because I’m really angry!)